On Their Own HIATUS
by iKannSpel
Summary: Gaara and Sakura have twin sons. Horrible summary, good story : R&R, the plot thickens
1. Chapter 1

The sun was setting peacefully over the village of Sunagakure. All was quiet and lull as the villagers strolled into their homes to greet their families after a tedious day of work. All was silent, of course, until a loud _boom_ was heard on the outskirts of the village. Some villagers cocked their heads towards the noise while others nearly smirked and continued on their merry way.

Gaara, the Kazekage for 18 consecutive years, sighed and practically threw down his pen from his aching palm. He had been signing documents, laws and scrolls for at least 7 hours straight. You'd think after years of it his body would become immune to the cramping but it never let up. There was a knock on the door and Gaara smiled slightly. He recognized that knock.

"Come in." he answered trying to sound professional.

A pink haired woman walked in, one hand on her hip, the other in a fist at her side. Her usual happy expression formed a scowl that could match Gaara's. Sakura, Gaara's wife, was…for lack of a better word…pissed.

"What's the matter, Sakura?" Gaara asked, trying to hide the discomfort in his voice. He hated seeing Sakura like this. It was rare, but when she was mad, she tended to lash out. Last time she was pissed like this, Fluffy died…don't sak.

"Do you have any idea where the boys are, _Kazekage-sama?_" Sakura hissed through clenched teeth.

_Oh God she called me 'Kazekage-sama. She's furious._

Gaara noted to himself that he was walking on thin ice by answering her.

"Yes. I told them to go train together."

"And where exactly did you authorize for this training?" Sakura asked, having calmed down a bit and talking in a normal tone, just a bit louder.

"About a mile past the gates, in the desert. You know how Ichiro and Koji get when they fight. Everything gets broken somehow." Gaara answered, stretching his throbbing hand.

"Uh-huh…so is that why they're both 10 yards from the tower?" Sakura asked, her anger gone, now turned to amusement as she saw Gaara freeze then jump from his chair and storm out of the office. As she was turning to leave she heard footsteps as Baki ran through the door.

"Gaara! The boys are-oh, hello Sakura." Baki greeted, bowing.

"Afternoon Baki." Sakura returned with a smile. "I've already informed him of the boys' fight, he's on his way to stop it."

Baki let out an audible sigh and nodded, turning to leave. He stopped just as his back was about to disappear into the hall. "They really have gotten stronger, haven't they?"

Sakura smiled and nodded, even though Baki's back was opposite to her. "Yes. They're really growing up."

A kunai zoomed past a boy, nearly scalping him if it weren't for the hand made of sand that caught it and threw it down.

"Kunai's won't work on me, Ichiro, you know that!" the boy smirked and crossed his arms in a way that his father was infamous for. The boy was 12 years old. He looked just like his father, only he had his mother's sea green, orb like eyes. He was exceptionally calm, and shy, unlike his brother.

"Shut up Koji!" Ichiro yelled frustratingly a few feet away as he rushed his brother. Ichiro and Koji were twins, but not identical. Ichiro had the same eye color as his father and had a mixture of his mother and father's hair, making it magenta. He usually got teased for this, so the boy was naturally hot tempered and lashed out like crazy.

Koji quickly spotted Ichiro and used his sand to easily snatch his brother up and throw him yards away into the half deserted street. Ichiro grunted in pain as he lifted himself up from the dirt floor. He had been fighting with Koji for hours now. They started deep in the desert but then, without them realizing it, moved farther back in to the village. It always ended up like this. Koji either beat the hell out of him and he passed out, or Koji beat the hell out of him but Ichiro managed to land one punch that knocked Koji out for hours. Koji was born with his father's talent for the maneuver of sand, but Ichiro had his mother's powerful strength. One punch from him and you were out like a light, if not worse.

Ichiro smirked and drew his arm back, readying it for a punch. He could feel his chakra rising and tingling inside of his clenched fist as he let out a loud cry and swiftly ran towards his brother, chakra sticking to the soles of his feet to allow faster motion. Koji was shocked and completely thrown off guard as he saw his brother's fist inches away from his cheek.

It was over.

_BOOM._

Koji was thrown back at least 50 feet by the jaw breaking punch and landed on his back. He was unconscious and bleeding heavily from the mouth, and from some scratches from the impact of the fall.

Ichiro let out a chuckle, then sighed as his knees buckled and he fell to the ground, unconscious as well.

Gaara came running out of the tower.

_Why are there so many floors in that damn building?_

He sprinted through the village until he saw Koji sprawled across the ground, and Ichiro standing shakily, before falling himself. He sighed, half of it being relief-the other being amusement at his sons' stamina, and picked them both up and started towards home.

Sakura was busy preparing dinner and talking to Temari, who was visiting from Konoha. She moved up there with her husband of 8 years, Shikamaru, but she came to visit once every month or so. Just as the two were beginning to talk about spending the day together tomorrow, an annoyed looking Gaara walked in carrying his sons under each arm like duffel bags.

"Hahaha…I see some things never change. Those two crack me up." Temari snickered, sipping her iced tea, courtesy of Sakura.

"Lay Ichiro down in his bed, it looks like he just passed out from exhaustion. Put Koji down here, Gaara, he seems to have some bad cuts." Sakura demanded, her hand glowing green from chakra. Gaara nodded and layed his son on the floor next to his kneeling wife and started up the steps into their room. Gaara scrunched his nose as he opened the door. It smelt of cheese, dirty socks and steaming hot garbage. He looked to the left at the trash can…no wonder, it was filled with scraps of food. He layed his tired son on his bed and stared at his figure for a while, his lips forming a smile. They really were growing up.

"Dad…?"

Gaara's eyes widened a bit in shock, as Ichiro called his name with a raspy voice, not opening his eyes.

"Yes, son?" Gaara asked, leaning in closer.

"D-…Did I win?" he asked, squinting one eye open at his father.

Gaara tried to hold back a chuckle as he moved his hand through his son's hair. "Yep."

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**The story will get more interesting as soon as I make more chappies. So, do you like the twins or not? ******** And for those of you reading my 'Not Another Sequel' story DON'T WORRY, I will be continuing it ******** so R&R, k? thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Are we there yet?"

"Do you see grass anywhere?"

"No."

"Well, there ya go."

Ichiro snorted and crossed his arms across his chest, looking annoyed. If looks could kill, his father would've evaporated.

"How long till we get to Konoha?" Koji asked, not tearing his gaze from the endless horizon of the desert. The family, along with Temari, Kankuro, Baki, and a small group of body guards, had been walking through the desert for 5 hours in hopes to send Koji and Ichiro to their Chunin Exams.

"At least another day and a half." Sakura commented, looking down at her son.

"A day and a HALF?! You never told us that!" Ichiro screamed out of frustration.

"Yes we did. But you were to busy running around screaming 'I'm gonna be a Chunin' that you must not have heard us." Gaara explained, annoyed.

Ichiro cursed under his breath and began to kick small stones as he walked. He decided to walk backwards and annoy the guards, something that always amused him. He stopped in his tracks and waited for the set of guards who were a few feet behind him to catch up then started to walk at their pace.

"Hey, wanna thumb wrestle? Bet I win." Ichiro smirked at the man. Suddenly, a hand was placed on the boy's shoulder and he spun around to see a familiar purple face.

"Last time you thumb wrestled with a guard you broke his hand. Not this time, champ." Kankuro smiled down amusedly at his nephew.

"Is it MY fault that guy was so weak?" Ichiro smirked, throwing up his hands defensively.

"Go bother your brother. The guards are here to protect us, not for you to play wi-"

"Like we need protecting! Dad's here, he IS the Kazekage after all! And mom'll whoop anyone's butt, nobody stands a chance with them around." Ichiro rambled with confidence. "Aunt Temari can carry her own, too. And so can Baki. Yup, we're all safe here!" Ichiro assured his uncle, as he sped up to catch up to his family.

"Hey wait a minute" Kankuro began after his nephew had ran off. "YOU DIDN'T MENTION ME!"

A few hours later, after the sun went down and stars filled the sky, the group decided on setting up camp for the night. Gaara was talking with Kankuro, the guards were keeping a watch on the vicinity of the area, Temari and Sakura were chatting and Baki, Koji and Ichiro were sitting around talking as well.

"I can't wait to see Naruto-san." Koji smiled lightly, thinking of his father's best friend. "We haven't seen him in so long. You think he'll be there?" Ichiro hit the back of Koji's head with his bag.

"Why WOULDN'T the Hokage be there, genius?!" Ichiro taunted.

Koji blushed at his moment of forgetfulness. "Shut up pinky." He smirked at his brother. Ichiro's eye twitched and he lunged at his brother punching and kicking while Koji sent sand to wrap around Ichiro to block him from the attacks. After a few seconds Baki managed to get the boys off of each other and lecture them about how to 'save it for the exams'.

"Hey Ichiro."

Ichiro murmured a reply as he was awakened by the call of his name. He blinked a few times and saw nothing but darkness. He closed his eyes again, thinking it was nothing but a dream.

"Ichiro…" the voice called out again, but a bit louder. Ichiro recognized it immediately as his brother's.

"What is it Koji?" he asked, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Do you think the Chunin Exams will be tough?"

"You woke me up for that? Of course it'll be tough, but that's the fun part of it, right?"

"What if I don't make i-"

"Don't be so skeptical. You're stronger than you think, Koji...you're gonna make it, now get some sleep before mom and dad wake up."

"…K." and Koji rolled over on his side.

Just as Koji was about to drift into a peaceful dream the sound of movement woke him up. He shot open his eyes, and jerked upright looking all around but seeing no one. He heard movement again and scrambled to shake his brother awake.

"Ichiro..Ichiro WAKE UP!" Koji screamed in the form of a whisper.

"W-What is it?!" Ichiro spat out. This was the second time his brother had woken him up tonight. He'll never get back to sleep at this rate.

"I-I heard a noise." Koji stammered, trying to keep the feeling of panic out of his voice.

"Yah. We're in the desert. Things make NOISES." Ichiro commented harshly as he threw himself back on his side, facing away from Koji. It was only until he heard the odd movements himself, that Ichiro rose and saw an older man, with huge muscles, wearing a Sound Village headband around his left arm.

"Just the two little squirts I was searching for. The Kazekage's sons. I wonder if you're worth more dead or alive." The large man grinned and readied a kunai from his pocket.

As soon as he threw the kunai, Ichiro jumped back and Koji caught the kunai with his sand. The two readied themselves for battle.

"Mom! Dad!" Ichiro screamed out at his parents only a few feet away.

"They can't hear you, squirt." The man gleamed evily.

"What do you mean they can't he-"

"Look at his village symbol, Ichiro." Koji informed his brother, not tearing his gaze away from the dangerous man. "He's from the village of Sound, which means he's used an illusionary genjutsu on everyone. They can't hear us, they're in their own world."

Ichiro looked back at his mother and father in shock and then back at their opponent. "Let's finish this guy off." He said through clenched teeth.

"I doubt you'll be able to do that, pipsqueaks." The man laughed and readied some bells to trap the boys in their own illusion, but Koji was too fast. He sent a whirl of sand to trap the man in, making it hard for him to breathe. The man struggled and struggled and gasped desperately for air.

"I won't kill you, but I will suffocate you to the point were you black out. Then I'll let you answer to my father." Koji threatened, not an ounce of emotion in his voice.

The man stopped struggling and then turned brown and began to melt into a pool of mud into Koji's sand. Koji's eye's widened.

_Substitution._

Suddenly the man zoomed right behind him and stuck a kunai under his throat and turned to Ichiro.

"DON'T move, or your brother's dead. Understand?" the man looked serious, and insanely angry and Ichiro could do nothing but nod.

The man took a step towards Ichiro who tried to take a step towards him, but the man tightened his grip on the kunai. "Don't try it, squirt, I'm warning you." Suddenly, Koji's face began to crack. "What?!" the man exclaimed. His ear fell to the ground, so did a piece of his hair, as did the left side of his face, showing the hollowness inside.

"It's a-…a sand clone?!" the man asked bewildered.

Ichiro smirked and withdrew his arm and gained chakra into his fist. Before the man could even decipher what was happening, he heard Ichiro scream "TAKE THIS!!" and punch the ground with all of his might. The ground split furiously in two, as if an earthquake had erupted into it. The man was flown back by the force of the punch and landed on his back, his leg and both arms broken, and a huge chunk of rock lying on his chest.

Ichiro walked slowly to the man who was an inch away from being unconscious. Koji appeared in a wave of sand and looked down at his attacker.

"Who are you, jackass?" Ichiro demanded in a harsh tone, putting one leg on the chunk of rock to squish the man if he should choose not to cooperate.

"Ka-Kazuki Haro…" the man whimpered out.

"How does it feel to be defeated by a couple of 'squirts' Kazuki Haro?" Koji asked a glimmer of amusement in his voice at the man's state. The man let out a grunt as Ichiro placed more pressure on the man's chest.

"P-Please!"

"Why were you trying to kill us?!" Ichiro screamed.

"It wasn't m-my idea! It was an o-order!" the man gasped for breath.

"An order by who?" Koji demanded.

The man gasped and tried to answer the question but began to feel light headed. Ichiro grabbed the man by his shirt and looked into his eyes. "Who. Sent. You. ANSWER ME!" he screamed at the man.

The man merely coughed and passed out in the boy's arms.

"Damn it." Ichiro spat out, dropping the man at his feet. "Who in the hell would try to kill us and why?"

"There are numerous reasons. We're the Kazekage's sons so we're worth a good ransom. Also, some people might want us out of the Chunin exams. Also-"

"Alright alright, I got it, geez." Ichiro stopped his rambling brother and rolled his eyes.

There was another noise a few feet behind the twins. They both spun around in shock to see…

* * *

**CLIFFHANGER! XD Sorry to do this to you, but my hand hurts lol Ill write more soon I promise..that is..if you want me to..Review if you would like me to continue Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

_There was another noise a few feet behind the twins. They both spun around in shock to see…_

a lizard scamper off away from them. The boys sighed in relief at the critter until they heard a deep voice behind them.

"Hey"

Ichiro and Koji gasped and twirled around out of instinct to see a tired looking Gaara. His hair was a mess and he yawned and stretched, looking suspiciously at his sons afterward.

"What are you two doing up?"

"Dad!" Koji screamed and grab his father at his side and hugged him. Ichiro rolled his eyes and sighed. It always astounded him how Koji could seem so heartless in battle, then be so sweet in person. Gaara smiled lightly and patted his son's head.

"Gaara...? What's going on?" a now awakened Sakura asked while rubbing her eye.

"Good question." Gaara stated while eyeing Ichiro suspiciously.

"Ok this is what happened!" Ichiro began ecstatically, "That guy over there was trying to KILL us! He got out his kunai and almost murdered us, but I was all HIIIIIIIYA!!" Ichiro then began to form his own moves to visually show his parents what he had done to 'survive'. Sakura merely scratched her head and stared at her son as if he had sprouted an extra eye, while Gaara just blinked and tried to fight the urge to walk away and go back to sleep. After a good 30 seconds of the intense charade courtesy of Ichiro, Gaara decided to say what was on his and his wife's mind.

"Ichiro…what man?"

Ichiro stared dumbly at his father. He had known his father his whole life, and he had never seemed so oblivious until now.

"What?! THAT man!" Ichiro screamed even louder, if possible, and pointed to the rock that lyed on Kazuki, except there was no Kazuki.

"What...?" Koji gasped to himself as he saw the boulder and nothing more.

"WHAT IN THE HELL?!" Ichiro shrieked, followed by a hit on the back of the head by his mother which formed a huge anime welt.

"Watch your mouth!! Now…what _man_ are you talking about exactly?" she asked in a concerned voice.

"There was a man under that rock. Kazuki Haro. He must've gotten away." Koji explained, still standing next to his father.

"Gotten away? His legs were broken!"

"Well then someone must've carried him off. Maybe a teammate."

"Baki! Kankuro!" Gaara summoned with aloud voice awaking both men from their slumber. Baki, who slept like a vampire in a coffin, sat upright with a serious look plastered on his face. Kankuro, who slept in the fetal position, stopped snoring immediately and jolted up, his hat backwards on his head.

"Is what it Gaara?" Kankuro slurred.

Gaara directed his synopsis to Baki, recognizing that Kankuro hadn't fully woken up yet. "The boy's claim there was an assassin. He got away. Someone should be with him. You two, half of the guards and I can go search for him."

"No, half of the guards, Kankuro and I will look into it. You stay. We'll meet you in Konoha." Baki stated with authority.

"Baki I-"

"You need to be there for the Chunin Exams. Or might I remind you that your sons will be fighting in it, Kazekage-sama." Baki added, a bit of amusement in his voice. He might not have political authority over him, but he is Gaara's elder and former sensei. That did give him _some _power.

"…Fine." Gaara agreed, and nodded. Baki lept forward, followed by a now fully awake Kankuro and 5 guards, one of which had no shoes. Only Gaara noticed this.

Gaara turned around to see Koji inspecting the crime scene (the rock), Sakura packing the remainder of their gear and Ichiro tenderly poking the throbbing lump on the back of his head.

"Koji, go wake up your aunt. We're moving out."

"Now?" the boy asked, a bit of a whine in his voice.

"Yes _now_." Gaara began mockingly "There's no use in us trying to get back to sleep. Now that we're all awake we might as well make our way towards the village."

"Makes sense." The boy shrugged, and walked a few yards to his sleeping aunt. He shook her awake and chuckled when he heard her talking in her sleep.

"Aah…Shikamaru…ugh….lazy ass…"

"Haha…Aunt Temari..we're leaving you need to wake up." Koji tried his best to be polite in touching her, but there was no way to wake her up without putting force into it. After a good 3 minutes, she finally awoke with attitude.

"Mmm…What the hell is it Koji?" Temari demanded, her eyes showing her fatigue.

"Um…" Koji began. He hated when Temari would get cranky, it made him extremely nervous. "D-Dad said it was time to go." He answered as best he could without mentally cracking.

"Tell Panda-man it's still dark out." She hissed, closing her eyes once more.

Koji began to kick the dirt under him impatiently. This wasn't good. Either go back and tell his father he couldn't wake his aunt and see him shake his head disappointedly at how timid he was, or try to wake his aunt once again and get screamed at to kingdom come. It wasn't that Temari was an abusive woman, she was just hard to handle once she wakes up.

A few yards away, Gaara was helping his wife pack, but Sakura was too busy staring at Koji hesitantly poking at his aunt.

"Gaara, why did you send him over there?" Sakura asked, motherly instincts enveloping her voice.

Gaara stood up and dusted himself off and stared with his wife at his son. "He needs to learn to be more assertive, Sakura, you know that as well as I do."

"Well, that's just his personality." She said defensively, now staring at her husband.

"Yes, but it's not a suitable trait for a ninja."

"My good friend, Hinata, happened to have that personality growing up and she's a GREAT ninja!" Sakura fumed. Gaara pinched the space between his eyes. He didn't need this, especially this early in the morning.

"You're right. I'm sorry. It's just. If he wants to be a ninja, he has to learn to be more confident is all."

"Hmph." Sakura mumbled, and that was the end of that argument. "Ichiro go over there and wake up your aunt." Sakura demanded.

"Fine." Ichiro mumbled lazily, as he got up and walked over. Gaara glared daggers at his wife, who in turn just stuck her tongue out and giggled.

"Hey Aunt Temari, mom said to wake up."

No response.

"HEY UNCLE SHIKAMARU!!"

"Wha-Shika?!" Temari asked jolting up.

"Haha! Nope not yet! But if ya get up, we can make it to Konoha even faster so you can see your hubby!" Ichiro teased.

"WHAT?!" Temari then bashed Ichiro over the head with the back of her fan, at the sight everyone winced.

"That's where confidence gets you." Sakura said with a smirk, walking off.

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**Yay! 3****rd**** chapter! D Please review! if you like it that is! Thanks for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

"How much _longer_" Ichiro whined, while tree hoping with his family through the forest. They had been at this for hours, he wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was beginning to miss the desert.

"We're almost there!" Sakura chimed, getting more and more excited with each passing of a branch. "We'll be at the gates in a few minutes!"

Gaara smiled seeing how eager Sakura was. She always got like this when she visited Konoha. Suna was her village now, but Konoha would always be her home.

"I have to meet up with Naruto when we get there, to discuss the Chunin Exams." Gaara informed Sakura.

"Im coming, too. I haven't seen that dolt in so long." She chuckled to herself, reminiscing the many bashings over the head she was infamous for giving her friend.

After about 10 minutes, the gang began to make their way towards the gate. Sakura had a huge smile on her face, she was finally home.

Ichiro caught sight of the ramen shop and saw the red ends of the Hokage robes. "Naruto-sama." He whispered to himself, he began to run through the gate when he was grabbed by a guard.

"Do you have identification, son?" the guard asked suspiciously.

Ichiro looked shocked for two reasons. One: this _man_ had called him 'son'. And, two: he actually put his hands on him. "Yea, I've got your identification! The name's Sabuka no Ichiro!" he said, yanking his arm out of the guards grasp, nearly causing the guard to lose his balance.

"Hm…" the guard said looking down at him, as if inspecting his face to see any trace of a lie.

"Can I go now or what? I'm with the Kazekage." Ichiro glared.

The guards face suddenly perked up. "Oh! You're the Kazekage's son! Hokage-sama was expecting you all, follow me." The guard explained apologetically and began to walk towards the ramen stand. By now, Gaara, Temari, Sakura, and Koji had made it up to the gate and were following Ichiro who had a smirk on his face.

"Hokage-sama?" the guard asked, not looking under the curtain in the shop.

"Yea?" the older, yet still raspy voice came out behind the curtain.

Gaara smiled and answered, "You have visitors, _Hokage-sama_."

The sounds of noodles being slurped by the man ceased immediately, and he jumped from his stool and peeked under the curtain.

"GAARA!" Naruto screamed, nearly glomping his best friend.

_Wow, he didn't even try to sound official._ Gaara thought.

After Naruto bear hugged Gaara, he opened his eyes and saw pink. "SAKURA! It's been too long!" he screamed and hugged Sakura.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed, overjoyed. She returned his hug back at him, nearly breaking his bones.

"Ah! AAH! Hehehe, ok ok Sakura! Let go!" Naruto tried to assure calmly, patting his former teammates back.

"Oh, sorry…where's Hinata?" Sakura blushed at her strength.

"Spending the afternoon with TenTen, I believe. Said something about clothes shop-HOLY HELL ARE THESE THE BOYS?!" Naruto bellowed, grabbing his head.

Gaara winced at the blonde's sudden change in the sentence. He never did have a good attention span.

Naruto looked down at Gaara's spitting images and gasped. "Koji! Ichiro! How've you two been?!"

"Good until your guard hassled me." Ichiro scoffed, glaring daggers at the guard that was still behind him.

"Haha, good ol' Ichiro! How are you Koji?" Naruto asked, smile stretching across his ears.

"Fine." Koji replied with a smile.

"Well, that's great! You guys want some ramen?! My treat!" Naruto beamed, practically shaking from excitement.

"No thanks, Naruto. We ate lunch a while ago. We're just gonna get these two ready for the fight. Cmon-…where's Temari?" Sakura asked, befuddled.

"She left as soon as we entered the gate." Koji explained slowly. Why was he always the one to notice little things?

"Must've been in more of a hurry to see Shikamaru then we thought." Gaara whispered to Sakura, who giggled at the thought.

**The Next Day**

**Ichiro's POV**

I wake up to the smell of mom's cooking from downstairs. Smells like eggs, burnt toast, bacon and lots of coffee for dad. I open my eyes and things are still blurry. After my eyes adjust to the light, Im shocked to find I'm not in the desert. After a few seconds I remember that we made it to Konoha, and I was in Naruto-sama's guest room.

After I stretch and yawn for the hundredth time, I get out of the bed and walk over to the calendar and my eyes instantly jerk open.

"The day of the exam!!"

I begin to furiously throw on my clothes and gather my things. I strap on my black sandals, throw on my black cargo pants with my kunai pouch strapped to the left side. Then I put on my mesh shirt, my dark blue jacket and tied my Sand Village forehead protector around my right arm.

"Let's do this." I smirk.

**Koji's POV**

I'm sitting on my bed kicking my legs from atop the edge of the bed. I've been sitting this way for 2 hours now. I'm too nervous to eat, and Ichiro's not up yet so I can't talk to anyone. All I can do is wait. Wait for this fight to see if I'm able to be called a Chunin. There's no doubt in my mind that Ichiro will win, but what about me? There's a lot of intimidating competition that I saw while being registered yesterday. I keep hearing Ichiro's voice, telling me not to worry, but I keep doubting myself.

"Koji! Get ready, we're leaving soon!" my mom screams from downstairs.

I hear my brother run down the stairs, "I'm ready mom! I'm ready to become a Chu-AAH!" there was a loud thud and a crash. I sigh, realizing he's fallen down the stairs…again.

I get up and put on my black sandals, then my gray shorts and I strap my kunai pouch to my right arm. I put on a white t-shirt and zip up my black jacket. I grab my small gourd in the corner of the room and swing it over my shoulder, put on my fingerless black gloves and tie my forehead protector onto the top of my head and take a look in the mirror. I sigh, shake my head slightly to rid myself of my nerves, and form a hand sign and I'm enveloped by sand, then I appear in the kitchen next to my mom and Ichiro.

"It would be smart to save your chakra, Koji. Cmon, your father's already down there with Naruto." My mom said, rushing at us both to hurry our pace.

Once we get there, I immediately spot Naruto-sama and dad. They're seated together next to other 'important people' and it looks like Naruto-sama's talking up a storm while dad has his head rested on his hand, looking bored.

The announcer calls all of the fighters forward and mom goes to sit beside dad. Ichiro gives me a nudge and smirks at me. A way to tell me to relax. I hear the announcer call a name.

"Let the Chunin Exams begin! First up: Tsuneo Yaka vs. Sabaku no Koji"

A large looking boy steps up, he's at least 16, with long black hair and piercing red eyes. He takes his place at the end of the arena and I gulp.

**Normal POV**

Everyone in the arena cheers as the names were called. Tsueno cracks his huge knuckles and grins at the now pale Koji as he steps forward.

Sakura looked worriedly at Gaara, and Gaara looked over and gave her a small smile. "He'll be fine, Sakura, he's ready." He said, no sound of doubt heard in his voice. Sakura sighed and smiled then looked back at her son.

"Now, if someone looks like they can't continue the fight, I will stop it. Other than that, that's all. Ready?" the announcer asked, looking at both boys. Both boys nodded and the announcer jumped back to safety and screamed "Begin!"

As soon as the announcer screamed this, Tsueno's fingertips began to glow blue with chakra. The blue glow, then turned into blue strings, forming chakra needles at the edges of his fingers. The boy withdrew his hand behind him as if he were about to throw something, then Koji gasped realizing what was happening and lept out of the way before it was too late. Tsueno swung his hand out and the chakra needles flew towards Koji in all directions, but he managed to dodge them all.

The cork plugging in Koji's gourd popped off and sand zoomed toward his opponent quickly, grabbing his feet, then squirming up his legs, then his chest, the only thing the sand didn't cover was Tsueno's head and left arm. Koji began to slowly clamp his hand shut, putting pressure onto Tsueno's body forcing him to groan slightly. Tsueno then flew his left arm back and swung the chakra needles towards Koji, stabbing him twice in the stomach.

Koji let out a small howl of pain as the long needles stuck out of his back. He wanted to pass out from the pain, but if he would do that, he would lose, he had the advantage he had to finish what he started. He began to enclose his palm once more, causing a scream to float from Tsueno's lips. Tsueno's fingertips lit up again and chakra strings attached themselves to the needles. Tsueno pushed his arm forward slightly, causing the needles to move even further into Koji's stomach. Koji let out a loud scream of pain as beads of sweat beat down his face, and he clamped his hand shut again, as Tsueno howled in pain. The question is who was going to give up first?

Gaara grabbed his arm rest so hard that his knuckles turned white. He hated seeing his son in pain, but there was nothing he could do. Sakura was beside him, her gaze not tearing away from her son, but quietly chanting "Cmon, cmon, cmon!"

After another minute of pain, Tsueno raised his only available arm and screamed "I give up!" and a few seconds after that fainted from the lack of oxygen reaching his brain.

Koji heard the plea, he heard the applause and he felt his face form a smile, before he too, blacked out.

Gaara let out the loudest sigh he had ever formed. He wasn't even aware he had been holding his breath. Sakura jumped up and screamed "YAY! THAT'S MY BOY!!" Ichiro did the same, only replacing 'boy' with 'brother'.

After 3 other fights, one resulting in a broken spine, the announcer read off the next name on the list. "The next fight up is: Rei Suzonu vs. Sabaku no Ichiro!"

"Yea! Bout time!!" Ichiro screamed so loud it made Gaara chuckle. Ichiro jumped over the railing into the arena and readied himself for the fight.

"So, where's my opponent? He'd better get ready!" he warned aloud, stretching his arms.

"What makes you so certain it's a _he_?" a voice called. Ichiro turned around to see a girl with chestnut brown hair and emerald green eyes.

"You gonna stand there with your mouth open all day, or you gonna fight?" she smirked.

* * *

**This has to be the longest chapter to a story I have EVER written. I just got so into it. Ill update soon! Hope you enjoy it! Please review thanks :)**


	5. Chapter 5

"No way! Time out! I'm not fightin' some girl!" Ichiro screamed flailing his fist in the air. Sakura and Gaara sweatdropped and sighed. The announcer looked a bit shocked but recovered.

"Sorry, but it was a random drawing. You _can_ forfeit though."

Ichiro's ears perked up having heard the word 'forfeit'. He began to get rather ticked off from the whole situation.

"You'd like that wouldn't you? I'm not quitting, but I'm not gonna feel too good about beating some girl." he snapped at the man.

"If you wish to be a Chunin, you're going to have to take out some opponents. Some of those opponents will be women. Are you saying you would defy your mission because the enemy has breasts?!" the girl inquired with amusement of how Ichiro's face turned red when the word 'breasts' was mentioned.

"N-No! I was just….I wasn't even TALKING to you!" he barked.

The girl's smirk turned into a serious expression that sent a chill down Ichiro's spine.

"Either fight me or quit. You couldn't beat me even if you tried." She spat out like venom.

Ichiro glared at the girl, and she glared back with extra heat.

_Who is this girl?_

Rei had long brown hair down to her back. She was wearing a long gray jacket and a purple skirt with a kunai pouch on her left shoulder. She had goggles on her head, but Ichiro couldn't find a forehead protector. She had on a beautiful red ear ring. But only one.

"I'll fight her." He hissed at the announcer, not ripping his glare away from the girl.

The announcer nodded and signaled the fight to begin. There was applause as the announcer jumped back a safe distance and yelled "Begin!"

Rei began to rush over, not even hesitating, as did Ichiro. When she was about 10 feet away from Ichiro, she dug both of her hands into the opposite jacket sleeve and retrieved a kunai for each.

_She's fast._ Ichiro thought.

The two rushed each other until they were both about to bash heads. Ichiro readied his fist and was about to punch her square in the face when…she vanished. Ichiro gasped and doubled over.

"What the…hell?" he coughed out, getting up. Ichiro looked all around him. To the left, right, above, under, she was gone. Just when he was about to scratch his head to think even harder, there was a piercing pain in his side. He looked down to see that he had just been slashed with a kunai on his right side. He grabbed his side and then immediately saw the shine of a kunai. Before he could react, he was slashed on his right shoulder and was bleeding heavily.

"Ah!...friggin bitch." He mumbled to himself.

_How is she doing this?!_

He heard giggles as his left leg was slashed which caused him to yelp.

_Don't panic Ichiro…think. Think. Ah, I'm not good at thinking in battle, Koji is. This is bad._

Just then his right leg was slashed and the only thing keeping Ichiro from screaming in pain was his pride. The announcer looked concern. He decided to give the battle another minute before calling it quits for Ichiro. The girl was too good.

"You can quit ya know. I won't blame you." He heard the girl's voice tease.

"Screw you!" you yelled, leading the girl to giggle.

_Wait a minute. If I can get her to keep talking. I can pin point where she is…Bingo._

Ichiro cuddled his injuries with his arms as blood seeped through and he talked through clenched teeth.

"So, why do you wanna be a ninja so bad anyways? I mean it's not what you'd call a glamorous lifestyle." He chuckled even though the pain almost made it impossible.

"Is he…_talking_ to her?" Gaara asked an also puzzled Naruto.

"Beats me, Gaara." Naruto admitted, still staring at Ichiro.

There was no response from Rei, only another side splitting cut to his right leg.

"What can I say? I like to make little pink-haired boys cry." Ichiro could practically see her smirking face and it made him sick to his core. He was then slashed on the right side of his stomach yet again, causing an even bigger wound to his gash.

_Wait. She's being repetitive…she already slashed me there…that means…there's a pattern._

It was as if a light bulb went off in Ichiro's head. As he predicted, his left side was slashed one more. He gained a cocky grin, even with the blood staining all of his clothes.

_Now it's time for the leg._

As if on que, he saw the glimmer of the kunai near his leg and before the weapon could cause anymore injuries, he grabbed a few inches behind the kunai, grabbing Rei's arm.

"WHA?!-" she began, before Ichiro swung her around and let her go, bashing her into the cement wall. He hobbled over as best he could and saw she was at least 3 feet into it, fully visible, and unconscious.

"Maybe she's…just not cut out to be…a ninja." He smirked and let out a chuckle as the announcer raised his arm and announced him the victor. There were cheers from Sakura, Gaara, Naruto and everyone. Then Ichiro was rushed off towards the infirmary. Since he was the last of the fighters, Gaara and Sakura were excused to see him and Koji.

Sakura made her way down the hall where the badly beaten fighters were being taken care of, and there she found her sons. By then, Koji was already awake and had had a nurse treat his wounds. He was drinking water out of a canteen and waved with a smile when he saw his mother.

"Oh, Koji you we're EXCELLENT!" Sakura beamed, tears in her eyes.

"Thanks." He said with a smile, but on the inside was a different story.

_EXCELLENT?! I KICKED ASS!! _**(A/N: remember inner Sakura? Well, he has an inner Koji lol )**

Sakura then saw her other son, getting checked at by 2 nurses and trying to shoo them away.

"Ichiro-sama, you need to let us take a look at these cuts!" one of the nurses pleaded.

"For the hundredth time I'm FINE! Geez, go check up on Koji again, he got worse of a beating then I did." At that instant Koji turned around and stuck his tongue out at his brother.

"At least I didn't get my butt handed to me by some female." He said cockily.

"Hey! _Some female_ can be great ninjas too, young man!" Sakura scolded.

"R-Right, sorry." Koji stuttered, looking down.

"Uh, it's ok. How can I stay mad at my two lil' Chunins?!" Sakura chimed.

"Ugh, mom…" the boys mumbled with embarrassment. Suddenly, the doors swung open and Naruto and Gaara were walking in with angry expressions on their faces.

"Sakura. I need to speak with you now." Gaara said, his tone saying 'it's an emergency'.

Then, Gaara formed a small smile and looked at his sons, "I'm very proud of you two. You were great, you really made me proud." Then his frown formed once more and he took Sakura to the side with Naruto and the three of them spoke privately.

"Baki and Kankuro found Kazuki, the man that attacked the boys. He was with 5 other ninja. It was a tough fight, but the ninja got away. Baki and Kankuro are in the hospital resting. 2 of the three guards didn't make it out of the battle." Gaara explained, seeing the fear in Sakura's eyes.

"Well…what can we do? Send more fighters for them?"

"That's not the main priority here. The main priority is just finding out who these assassins are. The only thing found at the battle spot was this." Naruto explained, opening his palm revealing a red earring.

"What do you see?" Ichiro asked Koji, who's hand was in a seal with his eyes closed. He was using his father's infamous Third Eye jutsu, but only to eavesdrop on their parents' conversation.

"Hm…Naruto-sama has a red earring." Koji explained as best he could.

"Whoa. Didn't think Naruto-sama swung that way." Ichiro joked, nudging his brother, who dismissed his elbow.

"Knock it off. Dad looks serious, this could be trouble." Suddenly, Gaara looked up from facing Naruto. He saw a brown eye floating 5 feet above him. His face looked shock, then angry as he looked back at his son, who opened his eyes and smiled weakly.

"Big trouble…" Koji repeated.


End file.
